Conventionally, there is known an electrical connector having a housing, a front cover, and a retainer, as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional electrical connector. FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of the housing included in the electrical connector.
An electrical connector 101, shown in FIG. 11, is provided with a housing 110, a retainer 120, and a front cover 130.
The housing 110 is formed by molding an insulating resin to have a substantial rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes multiple contact receiving cavities 111 arranged in two stages in the widthwise direction of the housing 110. Each of the contact receiving cavities 111 is provided with a housing lance 114 to primarily lock a female contact 116, as shown in FIG. 12. In order to form the housing lances 114, as shown in FIG. 12, a lance forming opening 114a is arranged from the front surface (left-side surface in FIG. 12) of the housing 110 to extend rearward. A retainer receiving depression 115 is also arranged from the bottom surface of the housing 110 to extend upward. Moreover, the front surface of the housing 110 has a cover receiving depression 112, and the bottom surface of the cover receiving depression 112 has a pair of engaging dimples 113.
In addition, the retainer 120 is attached to the retainer receiving depression 115 of the housing 110 from the bottom side of the housing 110, so that the contacts 116 first locked by the housing lances 114 are further locked (secondarily) by terminal locks 121, with the terminal locks 121 are arranged at the front surface of the retainer 120. Pairs of first and second protrusions 123 and 124 are integrally provided at the front upper side and at the rear middle of both of side walls 122 of the retainer 120, respectively. The retainer 120 attached to the retainer receiving depression 115 is latched in the retainer receiving depression 115 by the first and second protrusions 123 and 124.
Furthermore, the front cover 130 is attached to the cover receiving depression 112 of the housing 110 from the front side of the housing 110. The front cover 130 has multiple mating terminal insertion holes 131 located at positions opposite to the contact receiving cavities 111, respectively. Then, tool insertion holes 132, into which a tool (not shown) for removing the contacts 116 by operating the housing lance 114 is inserted, are respectively arranged below the mating terminal insertion holes 131. Also, a pair of protrusions, not shown, are provided at both sides of the bottom surface of the front cover 130, so that the protrusions are latched by the engaging dimples 113 provided with the housing 110.
The front cover 130 is formed separately from the housing 110 as described above, for the following reasons. To form the housing lances 114 integrally with the housing 110, together with a portion corresponding to the front cover 130, it is necessary to make lance forming openings 114a for inserting molds for forming the housing lances 114 from the front surface of the housing 110 to the housing lances 114. If the housing 110 is of large size and relatively large gaps are ensured between the mating terminal insertion holes 131 adjacently arranged at the front surface of the housing 110, the lance forming openings 114a can be formed from the front surface of the housing 110, in addition to the mating terminal insertion holes 131. However, if the housing 110 is downsized and the gaps between the mating terminal insertion holes 131 adjacently arranged are made smaller at the front surface of the housing 110, it may be impossible to ensure a space for forming the lance forming openings 114a from the front surface of the housing 110. For these reasons, the housing lance 114 is integrally formed with the housing 110, whereas the part in which the mating terminal insertion holes 131 are formed is arranged at the front cover 130 separately provided from the housing 110.
Referring to FIG. 12, without the front cover 130, a mating male terminal 141 provided at a mating connector 140 would be inserted into the lance forming opening 114a or the mating male terminal 141 would reach and touch the contact 116, in some cases, when the mating connector 140 is mated with the electrical connector 110. The provision of the front cover 130 allows the mating male terminal 141 to guide through the mating terminal insertion holes 131 to the contacts 116 in an appropriate manner, and also allows the tool to guide through the tool insertion holes 132 arranged at the front cover 130 to the housing lance 114 in an appropriate manner.
It should be noted, however, the electrical connector 101 shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 has the following drawbacks.
That is to say, the front cover 130 is attached to the cover receiving depression 112 only in a case where a pair of protrusions (not shown) arranged at both sides of the bottom surface are latched by the engaging dimples 113 provided with the housing 110. Accordingly, the retaining force of retaining the front cover 130 is very weak. For this reason, if the electrical connector 101 is dropped off, or if the mating connector 140 is removed after the electrical connector 101 and the mating connector 140 are mated with each other, the front cover 130 will come off from the housing 110 in some cases.
Meanwhile, the number of the protrusions provided at the front cover 130 and the number of the engaging dimples 113 provided with the housing 110 are increased for enhancing the retaining force of retaining the front cover 130. However, if the number of the protrusions provided at the front cover 130 and the number of the engaging openings 113 provided with the housing 110 are increased, the front cover 130 and the housing 110 will be upsized. This goes against the need for downsizing the whole electrical connector 101. Therefore, in the electrical connector 101 shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, it is impossible to arrange at the front cover 130 and the housing 110 a number of members for locking the front cover 130 to the housing 110.